Our Story

From the beaches of Hawaii to Montreal, RISE's mother has come a long way (literally).

Sure, everyone's mom is special, but RISE's mother is the mother of all kombuchas for a reason. Although she's happily settled in Montreal where she grew up, she was actually born in the South Pacific. When world travellers Mathieu Gallant and David Côté crossed paths randomly, thousands of miles from home, on the sandy beaches of Hawaii, the former acquaintances bonded over their interest in the islands' raw food and drink scene. An idea germinated, and the two backpackers soon said "aloha" to Hawaii and "allo" to their native Canadian province of Quebec with a business plan in mind... along with an actual piece of a Hawaiian kombucha SCOBY in their carry-on. As RISE's mother-to-be adjusted to life in the North East, Gallant and Côté met Simon Bertrand, the former president of RISE. The three friends, all intent on creating a locally produced, organic, fair-trade and vegan kombucha, put together a super-star team of businessmen, brewers and scientists to form what's now the over 60-member team that makes up RISE. The maple tree-lined streets of Montreal might be a far cry from the palm tree-dotted beaches of Hawaii where it all began, but that's what makes our mother's story so special. We're happy to share her ecologically-sound and socially-conscious kombucha with you. Think of every bottle of RISE as a Hawaiian lei made of Quebecois fleurs-de-lis -- totally unique.